Wednesday, August 7, 2013

What’s So Great About Bathing? The Benefits of Taking a
Bath and Mineral Bath Salts....

Water has been
seen throughout the ages as cleansing, refreshing, healing, and as a sign of
renewal and a source of life. Our bodies are 85% water and it makes up 9/10s of
our blood, saliva, plasma, lymphatic fluid, synovial fluid in the joints, and
cerebrospinal fluid. It carries hormones, proteins, and helps deliver chemical
messengers and signals from our brain to the rest of our body. It
flushes toxic wastes, makes our cells big and healthy, and helps lubricate
our moving parts.

What’s In It?Water is a universal
solvent and it carries with it minerals that can be absorbed by the skin, which
is why adding salts and essential oils to your bath can be beneficial.
Additives like salt or oil can be absorbed into the skin and into the
bloodstream in as little as 2 to 15 minutes. The heat from water in a bath
opens our pores to help absorb minerals and aids in dilating blood vessels,
boosts circulation, and helps detoxify the body. The suspension of the body in
water also helps bring relief from gravity’s pull on our muscles and joints.Bathing is so
beneficial to our bodies that there have been types of therapy developed around
using water to help heal the body. Hydrotherapy is the use of water to treat
various ailments by using water’s physical properties such as temperature and
pressure.

It is a broad term and refers mainly to all forms of water therapy.
It can help bring relief and aid to diseases such as arthritis, psoriasis, and
fibromyalgia, improve circulation, and help reduce swelling, aches, pains, and
improve many other conditions.A type of water
therapy, Balneotherapy is the treatment of disease by using mineral waters
externally and is typically used at spas in the form of hot or cold baths, hot
tubs, saunas, or wet compresses. Similar to Balneotherapy, another form of
therapy using water is Thalassotherapy. It is the same concept, but uses
specifically sea water and salt from various seas. Hydrotherapy is becoming
more popular nowadays as people are looking for natural ways to help heal the
body and as spas are becoming more common.There are a lot of
physical benefits of taking a bath, but there are also some psychological
benefits as well.

As the water reduces tension on the body and relaxes muscles,
the mind will also release stress and unwind. Baths have been shown to help
people relieve stress, anxiety, sleep disorders, mild depression, and help people
feel more positive overall.

Why Use Bath Salt?The types of salt
used for bath salts are unlike regular table salt. Table salt has been
bleached, iodized, and put through many other harsh steps that change its
molecular structure and take out vital minerals, which is why this salt needs
to be eaten in moderation as it can contribute tohealth problems. The right
type of salt can be very beneficial to our bodies as it contains minerals we
need that our bodies do not produce on their own. Salts used in bath salts or
in Thalassotherapy (sea salt bath therapy) still contain all of their natural
minerals that the body absorbs through water.

Of all the sea
salts, Celtic Sea salt contains the most minerals and has the lowest amount of
sodium. Once dissolved in water, it also has a very similar likeness to human
blood and body fluids, which make it better for your body to absorb.
Celtic Sea salt comes from the northern coast of France and is still harvested
using a 2000 year old Celtic farming method. Harvesters of the salt use wooden
rakes to scrape the layers of salt out of the sea and into piles. The reason
wood rakes are used is because metal can change the molecular structure of the
minerals contained in salt. This old Celtic farming method of using wooden
rakes ensures the purity and balance of the minerals in the salt.

So what is in Celtic
Sea salt that makes it so great for the body? A few of the types of minerals in
Celtic Sea salt are chloride, iron, sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium,
zinc, copper, manganese, silicon, and fluoride. These trace minerals are important
to your body. They act as facilitators for biological reactions meaning they
help carry the brain’s messages throughout the nervous system, improve muscle
response, and help the body absorb the nutrients it gets from food.Sodium and Chloride
help regulate acidity in the body and sodium maintains pH balance in cellular
fluid. Both are necessary for osmosis and electrolyte balance. Iron is needed
for cell function and blood utilization. Magnesium aids in cell functionality
and is necessary for muscle contraction and absorption of amino acids.
Potassium helps stimulate nerve impulses and muscle contractions, stimulates
kidney and adrenal function, and is also important for biosynthesis of protein.

Calcium is used to build healthy bones and teeth, stimulates muscles and
nerves, helps blood coagulation, and is necessary for regulating a healthy
heartbeat. Zinc is beneficial for growth, development, immune system response,
insulin synthesis, and can help prevent bacterial infections. Copper aids in
the absorption of iron and vitamin C. Manganese is necessary for use of
glucose, lipid synthesis and metabolism, and pancreatic function and
development. Silicon helps with bone growth and formation, and may help keep
skin young looking and keep hair and nails healthy. Fluoride keeps teeth enamel
strong and helps the body absorb calcium.

Our body is made up of water from our saliva, to blood, to our
cells and joints. The minerals in water help our bodies function. Bathing is a great way to absorb those minerals and has been
used throughout the ages by the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians. Bathing today is
seen as forms of hydrotherapy such as Thalassotherapy and Balneotherapy or even
just soaking in a hot tub with some bath salt.

Plantlife, a company out of San Clemente, Californiauses unrefined, unprocessed Celtic
Sea Salt harvested from the unpolluted pristine shores of Northern France in
all their Therapeutic Mineral Bath Salts.